


A Grave Conversation

by Lumelle



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Coming Out, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Trans Male Character, Transphobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-16
Updated: 2017-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-30 14:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumelle/pseuds/Lumelle
Summary: Robert isn't exactly surprised to run into Damien late at night in the graveyard. Seeing the tears, though, is another matter.Robert isn't exactly an expert in comforting people, or really in acting like a decent human being in general, but offering his opinion is something he can do easily enough. If that ends up helping, well, he's not exactly going to complain.





	A Grave Conversation

Of all the people Robert might have found on a walk through the graveyard late in the evening, Damien was really the least surprising one.

He'd seen Damien around a time or two before, though mostly from a distance, not wanting to disturb whatever it was that had drawn Damien to the graveyard. Most people who came there wished to get some peace and quiet, after all, and Robert definitely understood that particular wish. With this in mind, he tightened his hold on Betsy's leash as she tried to run off to greet the familiar figure, fully intend on simply nodding at Damien in passing and continuing on his way.

When he got closer, though, Robert found his steps slowing down. Damien looked… well, a mess, especially for someone who was usually as put together as he was. Instead of his usual almost peaceful looks in the silence of the graveyard, he was staring off to the distance, leaning rather heavily against one of the larger monuments.

"Tough day?" It was probably not the best offer of sympathy, and hardly one that anyone would wish for from him of all people, but somehow Robert couldn't just pass by without saying something.

Damien blinked, looking startled, then put on a rather forced smile. "Ah, Robert. I am absolutely splendid, my friend, simply admiring the craftsmanship of this particular headstone."

Robert glanced at the headstone Damien was gesturing at. It didn't look any different from the rows upon rows of others, but then, he didn't really know that much about graveyards except that they made great spots for ghost stories. "You know, either you have to come up with better stories or invest in some waterproof makeup. Those tear lines are probably visible from space."

"Ah!" Damien brought a hand up to his cheek, touching one messy cheek. "It's — is it that obvious?"

"Kinda, yeah." Robert shrugged, letting Betsy rush over to Damien. The guy looked like he could use some dog therapy. And if not, at least it'd keep her from tugging at her leash the whole time. "Anyone I should beat up?"

"Certainly not!" Damien looked startled at the mere suggestion. "I would never wish violence upon another person!"

"Hey, it was just a suggestion." Robert shrugged. He had mostly been teasing Damien, but he couldn't say he wouldn't have considered it. Though then, someone would've had to be absolutely awful for Damien to even consider taking him up on his offer. "Just wondering why you'd be crying over here." He did take another glance at the headstone indicated. Whoever was buried there had died long before Damien had been born, unless he actually was a vampire, so they probably weren't the reason for the tears.

"It's… it is quite inconsequential, I suppose." Damien rubbed at his eyes, then crouched down to scratch Betsy. She was absolutely ecstatic at the attention, the silly bugger, leaning her head into the touch and grinning widely. "I merely… well. I ran into a former coworker today."

"Didn't go too well, I suppose." Because that wasn't obvious just from looking at Damien.

"Not really, I suppose." Damien sighed. "We never quite saw eye to eye, even back then. Now… well." Damien shook his head, lips twitching into something that was not quite a frown. "She found it necessary to point out what a horrible parent I am to Lucien, to be depriving him of a mother."

"Because you're not into ladies?" Robert might not have been as up to date about all the gossip as Mary was, but he did recall some mentions of a husband in Damien's past. Mostly in the context of whether attraction to men was a requirement for getting a house in the cul-de-sac, but still.

"No, not quite. It's…" Damien sighed, falling silent for a while. Robert waited, not pushing. Pushing rarely worked in these situations. "You are a relatively recent addition to our neighborhood, Robert. You weren't around when…" He trailed off, looking uncertain as to whether he should continue.

"When your late man was still around?" Dead, not divorced. Robert vaguely recalled an attempt at forced levity in one of the endless garden parties, with some debate between Damien and Hugo on whether the appropriate course of action for a Victorian widower would have been to remarry or simply hire a nanny to aid him in childcare. Robert didn't remember the outcome of the debate, but he couldn't forget the wistful look in Damien's eyes.

"No. Well, yes, but… that's not quite it." Damien halted again, long enough that Robert almost thought he wasn't going to continue after all. When he finally spoke, his voice was very quiet, barely audible over the bit of wind and Betsy's happy panting. "When I still went by Dahlia."

"Right." Well, that… did explain the catty comment, at least. "So… the transition recent?" That was the word, right? Robert wasn't exactly the most enlightened in these things, but he could try. There were some things even he couldn't be an asshole about.

"Somewhat, I suppose. Before you moved here, of course, but still. I always knew who I was, even as a child, but… it takes courage, facing such things head on. Courage I did not have for the longest time, even though my partner tried to give me that strength."

"What'd give you the push?" Robert wasn't sure why he was asking, really. Damien would tell him if he wanted to, and if he didn't, then probing wasn't going to help. Somehow, though, it felt almost natural, this quiet little chat between the gravestones.

Perhaps a little part of him was wondering how he could find the courage to change, too. Not that he was going to admit that aloud.

"Lucas died." Damien kept his eyes very firmly on Betsy's beaming, loving face. "I… I won't lie, I was an absolute mess for the longest time. Lucien needed me more than ever, yet I let him down."

"Hey, I've got no right to talk about that." God knew he was still a bit of a mess after the same. At least Damien seemed to have his life under control nowadays, while Robert could hardly say the same.

"Oh, but you would have every right. You simply choose not to." Damien shook his head. "It was… difficult, to say the least. Until one day I realized I could not keep on living as I had. Without Lucas by my side, all the feelings I had kept bottled up were only growing stronger and more disturbing, until it felt as though I was going to be consumed by them entirely."

Robert nodded, silent. He hardly had anything to comment on that.

"So, I decided I had to do something." Damien leaned even closer to Betsy, as though trying to pretend Robert wasn't even there. "I could not bring my beloved back, and I could not face my self-disgust without his aid. As such, my only solution was to address the parts of myself I loathed the most."

"And that's when you became Damien?"

"Well. That is when I decided to work on getting my outer self to come to an agreement with what was always inside." Damien's lips twitched into a faint smile. "Lucien was… incredible. I feared he might resent me, would not understand my decision to essentially deprive him of the one parent he still had, though truly I had not been present for him as I should have ever since our loss. But Lucien… he told me I was only being more true to myself, and if that made me happy, then he would be happy for me as well."

"…You've got a good kid." Who had a good father, clearly. Better than Robert himself could have ever been.

"That I do. I am most fortunate to have him in my life." Damien very nearly smiled, only for his face to fall again. "Ah, but I must be boring you with my personal woes. You certainly didn't come here simply to have me complain."

"Eh. I came here to cheer Betsy up. Seems I'm doing pretty good at that." Robert shrugged. "So… you're feeling down just because some asshole thinks they know your kid better than you?"

"Except it is not merely that." Damien sighed. "They were not incorrect, not truly. It is due to my choices that Lucien no more has anyone to call his mother. How was that my call to make?"

"Bullshit." And okay, that maybe startled Damien, but clearly he needed someone to shake him a bit. Metaphorically, at least. "I may not know a lot about that shit, but I do know it's not a choice. And from what it sounds like, you're still the same parent you were before. Just, you know, not as miserable about not looking like you feel you should."

"That still doesn't change the facts."

"Except the facts aren't what you seem to think." Robert hesitated, then stepped closer and crouched a few feet away from Damien. Not quite close enough to reach out and touch, but enough to get a good, deep look in the other's eyes. "Say. What does your kid call you?"

"It is not quite that simple."

"Sure it is. And you're not answering the question."

"He… he calls me dad." And there was the fond tone, the one that always permeated Damien's voice when he was speaking of his son, no matter the context or the contents of the conversation. "He has ever since I told him how I truly feel."

"So there's your answer." Robert shrugged. Sure, maybe he was presenting something very complicated and difficult as something much simpler, but he was going to be damned if he let Damien doubt his own abilities as a parent. If Damien wasn't a good dad, what hope did anyone else have? "You're his dad, end of. No outsider has any say in that matter, now or ever."

"If only I could truly bring myself to believe that claim."

"Hey, I can't force you to. Just pointing out that you're still the same person you were before you decided to be called a dude, and I doubt your parenting has changed all that much. If anything, you're better at it since you're not fighting with your own brain."

"I… suppose I could see it as that." Damien offered him a faint little smile. "Thank you, my friend. You truly have a reassuring air about you."

"Ha!" Robert barked with laughter. "First time I've heard anyone tell me that."

"It is the truth, however." Damien wiped at his eyes again, frowning as his hand came away with smears of makeup. "Oh. I must truly look a fright."

"Eh, I'd say you fit the surroundings pretty well." Robert shrugged. "You could walk back to the cul-de-sac with Betsy and me. If anyone asks, you can just claim I said something terrible and made you cry."

"I could never besmirch your good friendship in such a manner!" And Christ, Damien was probably the only person alive who could say that with a straight face.

"Then I'll say it instead. Except if we run into Mary. I'd rather not get stabbed with a knitting needle."

Now, that was definitely a smile. "You know as well as I do that Mary does not knit."

"Sure she doesn't. But do you really think she would pass by the opportunity to carry around something sharp and pointy without arousing suspicion?"

"…You make a most excellent point, my friend."

"Always do." Now, he shifted close enough to pat Damien on the shoulder, just briefly. At least he was pretty sure that was a shoulder under the cape. Cloak. Vampire overcoat thingy. "Ready to go? As much as Betsy adores the attention, I think she wants to continue walking." Robert stood up, tightening his grip on her leash.

"Right. I — I think I am prepared now." Damien stood, drawing a deep breath. "Oh, goodness. Lucien will no doubt wish to know the reason for my tearful appearance if he sees me in such a dreadful state."

"Well, he's a good kid like that." And an awful one in some ways, but hey, Robert wasn't in any position to criticize. "Doesn't like it when people upset his dad. Can't say I blame him for it." Robert paused, then smirked. "Well. Aside from the times when he's the one upsetting you."

Damien chuckled, a hollow, watery sound that echoed through the silence of the graveyard, yet after all the miserableness it was simply delightful to hear.

Maybe next time, Robert could figure out a way to draw it out that didn't involve tearful graveyard confessions.


End file.
